Kidnap Israelis to Exchange for Prisoners, Islamists say

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Gilad Shalit on the phone with his parents, after arriving Israel. Photo: IDF.

Islamist leaders say that militants should kidnap Israeli citizens in order to bargain for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. In 2011, Israel freed more than 1,000 prisoners in exchange for the return of kidnapped Israel soldier Gilad Shalit.

“I say to all armed factions, the way to free the prisoners is through swaps … An arrest for an arrest, and freedom for freedom. This is the way,” said Khaled Al-Batsh, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, according to the Jerusalem Post.